AACER: Bankruptcy Filings Continue April Decline; Total Has Fallen 47 Percent Since Peak

Both the total bankruptcy filings for April and that average filings per day declined from March in the same number of filing days, continuing a trend that has been ongoing since the height of the financial crisis in 2010, according to April 2015 AACER bankruptcy data reported by Epiq Systems.

In April, there were 77,884 total bankruptcy filings, down from March's total of 81,622 in the same number of filing days (22) during the month. April totaled 3,540 filings per day, compared with 3,712 in March.

Since April 2010, when 146,373 bankruptcy filings were reported for the month nationwide, the number of filings has declined steadily every April. The total number of filings for April 2015 (77,884) experienced nearly a 47 percent decline from the peak total reached in April 2010. April 2015's total is a decline of 10,279 from April 2014's total (88,163).

The total number of bankruptcy filings year-to-date for the first four months of 2015 is 283,587, compared to 320,002 for the first four months of 2014. The average number of filings per month for the first four months of 2015 is 70,917 for 83 filing days, an average of 3,417 per day. For the first four months of 2014, bankruptcy filings nationwide totaled 319,993 over 83 filing days, an average of 79,998 per month and 3,855 per day.

The state with the most cumulative filings year-to-date is California with 28,931, followed by Illinois at 20,070. Florida was close behind at 19,460. In filings per capita for the first four months of 2015, Tennessee and Alabama were once again first and second among states (as they were in January, February, and March) with 5.63 and 5.24 filings for every thousand people, respectively. Both percentages represented slight increases from March's totals for the two states (5.52 and 5.14).

The national average in bankruptcy filings per capita ticked slightly upward from March to April, from 2.65 up to 2.74. Ranking behind Florida and Alabama in bankruptcy filings per capita in April were Georgia at third (4.85), Illinois in fourth at 4.66, Utah at fifth with 4.31, and Indiana at sixth with 4.27.

Epiq Systems is a leading global provider of technology-enabled solutions for electronic discovery, bankruptcy and class action administration. Top legal professionals depend on us for deep subject-matter expertise and years of firsthand experience working on many of the largest, most high-profile and complex client engagements. Epiq Systems, Inc. has locations in the United States, Europe and Asia.